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KANZA LANGUAGE
Mixed-Media Lessons for Adults
Lesson 4
THE KANZA VERB EXPANDED
(Part II)
Stative Verbs
Š As we have mentioned before, Stative Verbs are used to
express state of being. Although they can be roughly
equivalent to what we might think of as adjectives,
some look much like regular active verbs.
Š Here are some statives that resemble adjectives in other languages:
tánga—big
zhúje—red
gízo—happy
bláze—torn
Š Here are some statives that could be confused with Kanza actives:
blézanye—wilt, shrivel up, squint
íxowe—lie
hagíye—forget
giní—recover, regain consciousness
óphe—wish, grant a wish, get ones way
Š Statives fit a new & different conjugation, <S>.
Example of <S>
Š Let’s look at one to see how they work.
xla—thin, lean, skinny <S>
anxlá
waxlá
waxlábe
yixlá
yixlábe
xla
xlábe
Š Looks like the statives fit the big patterns but with
different prefixes, which can be simplified as such:
<S>
1S an—
2S yi—
1D wa—
Example of Prefix-<S>Š Now let’s look at one where the locus is not at the
beginning of the verb. It still fits the pattern.
gízo—happy, be in good spirits gi-<S>wagízo
wagízobe
giánzo
giyízo
giyízobe
gízo
gizóbe
Š The wa— prefix, like an— (ang— before vowels), always
goes at the beginning of the verb.
Translating Statives
Š When translating statives, it is often useful to
add ‘to be’ or ‘to have’ to the English form.
nompéhi—hungry <S>-hi
nompéanhi—I am hungry
nompéyihi—You were hungry
nompéhibe—They’re hungry
Š Otherwise, they may not make much sense.
Stative Verbs as Adjectives
Š Sometimes a stative verb is used like an ‘adjective.’ When
this happens, it is still a conjugated verb, but it’s not the
main verb of the sentence. They will follow the noun they
modify between the noun and its article.
Mánhin páhi min ablín—I had a sharp knife.
Knife
sharp
a
I have/had
Š Even in this example, the stative páhi ‘sharp’ is conjugated.
If you remember, the 3S form of the verb exhibits no
prefixes. We used 3S because we would say ‘the knife is
sharp,’ a 3S form. Statives used as adjectives are
conjugated for Person, but not generally for Number.
How Do They Work?
Š Translate the sentence below using the following
dictionary information:
íye—to see i-<A>kha—the (living, standing object or objects)
sínga—squirrel
shábe—brown <S>
“You and I saw the brown squirrels.”
Feel free to go back to other pages in the lesson for more information.
But try to make a guess before moving on.
Here We Go!
We can start wherever we like. Let’s first come up with
the “You and I saw…” part using the appropriate entry:
íye—to see i-<A>-
Well, we know that ‘you and I’ is the 1D form, which means it uses an– as a
prefix. We also know that this prefix always goes first, even before
locatives. Since it starts with a vowel, we know to use ang— instead.
‘You and I see/saw’
an— + íye = angíye
But, since we know that the thing ‘you and I’ are seeing is plural
(‘…squirrels’), we know to use –be to show a plural animate object.
But since –be changes ‘e’ to ‘a’ on verb roots that end in ‘e,’ we have to
change that last letter before adding –be.
angíye + —be = angíyabe
‘You and I see/saw (them)’
Still Going!
Next, we need to come up with the “…the brown
squirrels” part using the appropriate entries:
kha—the (living, standing object or objects)
sínga—squirrel
shábe—brown <S>
Well, we know that nouns don’t change for plural, they go before their
articles, and that a stative used as an adjective goes between the noun it
modifies and its article. The stative is conjugated for Person but not for
Number. The article can be used with either singular or plural nouns.
Sínga shábe kha
‘the (standing animate) squirrel(s)’
Wow!
Š Lastly, since we know that the general word order
for Kanza is Subject-Object-Verb, we know that the
main verb of the sentence goes last.
Š The main verb is “…saw…”, so it will go at the end.
So…
Sínga shábe kha angíyabe.
“You and I saw the brown squirrels.”
Object Pronoun Prefixes
Š Do you remember the Object Pronoun Prefixes we
mentioned earlier?
Š They are used to express the Person and Number of
the part of the sentence that receives the action, the
Object.
Š By attaching these to a conjugated verb it is
possible to show the total action of the sentence.
For example, the English phrase “You looked at us”
could be completely stated as one Kanza verb.
wayáshtombabe—you looked at us
Where Are They Located?
They come right before the Subject Pronoun Prefixes.
Just like the an— (ang—) Subject Pronoun Prefix for 1D, though, the 1D
Object Pronoun Prefix goes at the very beginning of the verb.
Where? How?
In
On/To
By
With
Which
Whom? Whom? Direction? What?
Subject
Object
Pronoun Pronoun
Prefixes
Prefixes
What’s
Going
On?
How
Many?
In what way?
So What Are They?
Š The really great thing about the Object Pronoun
Prefixes, is that they use the same set as the <S>
Subject Pronoun Prefixes.
Active Object or Stative Subject Prefixes
an—
wa—
wa—be
yi—
yi—be
—
—be
Š Anytime we use a transitive verb, one capable of
accepting an object, these are included.
What Do You Mean?
Š Take any transitive Active verb, like k’in—to carry,
pack on the back <A>. We use both sets of prefixes
every time its used, even if no object is specified.
ak’ín—I carry it
ank’ín—you & I carry it
ank’ímbe—we carry it
yak’ín—you carry it
yak’ímbe—you(y’all) carry it
k’in—s/he/it carries it
k’ímbe—they carry it
Š When no object is specified, we can safely assume
a 3S object due to the fact that the object pronoun
prefix for the 3S form is blank ( 3S — ).
Objects Specified
Š When a subject is specified, include the objects
according to the following chart:
an—
yi—
—
‘me’
‘you’
‘her/him/it’
wa—
‘you & me’
wa—be
yi—be
—be
‘us’
‘you (y’all)’
‘them’
Š Remember, these are applied before the pronoun
prefixes. The wa– goes at the beginning of the
verb, before anything else. In a situation where
two –be suffixes show up, only use one of them.
Examples of Objects Specified
Š Let’s see a few examples of verbs where both the subject
and object are present.
wayák’imbe—you carried us
wa—be ‘us’
ya— ‘you’
k’in ‘carry’
Notice that this would be no different for 2P form!
wayák’imbe—y’all carried us
wa—be ‘us’
ya—be ‘y’all’
k’in ‘carry’
ank’ímbe—they carried me
an— ‘me’
—be ‘they’
k’in ‘carry’
Notice that this would be no different for several other forms!
ank’ímbe—we carried her
k’in ‘carry’
— ‘her’
an—be ‘we’
ank’ímbe—you & I carried them
k’in ‘carry’
—be ‘them’
an— ‘you & I’
Confused?
Š Don’t worry. When the verb is in a sentence or part of
something larger, more context may be available to tell you
what is going on. It’s generally not too difficult.
AMBIGUOUS
Čedónga shábe khá angíyabe. This sentence is hard to translate on its own!
buffalo
brown
the (standing sing. OR plu.)
we-see/saw-it OR you-&-I-see/saw-them OR they-see/saw-me, etc.
MUCH LESS AMBIGUOUS
Mózhanejí angáye.—You & I went to the country.
Country
to-that-place you-&-I-go/went
Čedónga shábe khá angíyabe.—You & I saw the brown buffaloes.
buffalo
brown
the (standing)
you-&-I-saw-them
A Dead Giveaway
Š Fortunately, there is a “dead giveaway”
that’s very easy to spot and helpful in
reducing ambiguity.
Š When “I” is the subject and “You” is the object, instead of getting yia—,
or something from another conjugation which may be even harder to
pronounce, it collapses to simply wi—. And that’s what the wi— prefix
always means!
Wikúje ta minkhé!—I’m going to shoot you!
Verbal Particles
Š Another thing that can be helpful in figuring out
what’s going on with the verb is the set of
VERBAL PARTICLES.
Š These are a series of little words that can follow the
verb and explain some of the “In What Way” of the
action.
Š Frequently, these are matched up with the subject,
which can help you decide who is performing the
action or experiencing the state of being.
Where are the Verbal Particles?
Š They trail along as whole separate words
behind the verb.
Not every verb in every sentence will have particles, but they can definitely
show up from time to time.
Where? How?
The
Locatives
The
Outer
Instrumentals
In
On/To
By
With
Which
Whom? Whom? Direction? What?
Object
Pronoun
Prefixes
Subject
Pronoun
Prefixes
The
Directives
The
Inner
Instrumentals
Verbal
Particles
What’s
Going
On?
How
Many?
Suffixes
Verb Root
In what way?
Types of Particles
Š The particles can come in several forms.
Potential—will do, would do
Continuative—be doing
Habitual—do all the time, do always
Negative—not, don’t do
Narrative—so they say, it’s done
Imperative—do it/ do now!
ta
minkhé, hninkhé, akhá, etc.
hnan, hnámbe
-zhí suffix mozhí, azhí particle
čhe
-a suffix ya particle
Š A few of these can be combined, too.
Potential Continuative—will be doing, would be doing
ta minkhé, etc.
Negaive Potential Continuative—will not be doing, would not be doing mozhí ta minkhé, etc.
Habitual Narrative—used to they say
hnámbe čhe, etc.
Particle Agreement
Š Several of the particles must agree with the subject.
The Continuatives
dómbe—look at <D>
minkhé—I am/was doing
atómbe minkhé—I was looking at it.
hninkhé—you are/were doing
yashtómbe hninkhé—you’re looking at it.
akhá—s/he/it is/was doing
dómbe akhá—she is looking at it.
abá—they are/were doing
dombábe abá—they were looking at it.
Other continuatives just agree with the article of the subject.
The Habituals
dómbe—look at <D>
hnan—do always (all singulars and dual) atómbe hnan—I always look at it.
hnámbe—do always (all plurals)
yashtómbe hnámbe—Y’all always looked at it.
Notice that hnambé takes the place of the –be suffix on the verb root.
The Negatives
dómbe—look at <D>
atómbe mozhí—I didn’t look at it.
mozhí—I don’t/didn’t do
All other negatives just use azhí.
Particles and Ambiguity
Š Particles can cut through ambiguity arising from the subjectobject confusion.
andómbabe
Taken out of context, this can mean several things.
you & I look at them
we look at it
we look at them
they look at me
But by adding a particle, the meaning becomes clearer.
Andómbabe abá.
(abá—they are/were doing)
Andómbabe abá.
They are looking at me.
Potential Particle
Š The potential particle ta is used as a sort of future tense
marker. It really only indicates that there is a potential for
action to occur. It is often combined with other particles to
create specific conditions.
Ble ta—I will go/I may go
Ble ta minkhé—I will be going/I may be going
Angáye tábe!—Let’s (you & I) go!
Š The use of ta does not have a real bearing on the truth of
what is to come. For example if someone says…
Ble ta minkhé.
… and then chooses not to go, that person has not lied.
Continuative Particles
Š The continuative particles, minkhé, hninkhé, akhá,
etc., are used to show that the action is ongoing. When
they spring up in conjunction with active verbs, be sure
to put an ‘—ing’ somewhere in the English equivalent.
Andómbe akhá.—She was looking at me.
Š Other continuative particles can be used, so long as they
match the definite article attached to the subject.
Níka abá čedónga min dombábe abá.
The men are looking at a buffalo.
Continuatives and Statives
Š Continuative particles are often used with statives
as a reiteration of the subject, to add emphasis, or to
show that the experience is ongoing.
Ománzheya minkhé.
I’m tired
I’m experiencing it.
I am tired.
Š A sentence is perhaps just as valid and conveys
much of the same meaning without the continuative
particle, nevertheless, a particle often shows up in
these sorts of situations.
Narrative Particle
Š The narrative particle čhe is used to show that the
sentence is part of a narrative or story. It is
sometimes combined with a habitual particle (either
hnan or hnámbe) to show that the story is not firsthand information.
Yátan hnámbe čhe.—I heard that they used to drink.
Š It may be useful to think of these particles not only
as storytelling devices, but also as a way to show
that the action conveyed was not directly witnessed,
possibly reported or told by someone else first.
Causative Verb
Š Sometimes what looks to be a suffix or particle can turn out
to be a whole entire verb. One of these is the Causative
Verb ye, not to be confused with ‘ye—to go.’ This verb,
denoted with <C> in the dictionary.
dábuze ye—dry something <C>
Š This verb is used to show that the subject causes the action
or state of being. For instance, in the above example,
dábuze simply means dry from exposure to heat, like an
dead animal’s flesh dries out in the sun. By adding the
causative, we show that someone is actually causing this to
happen, as in the process of making jerky.
Causative Example
Š Let’s see an example.
ts’e—dead, die, be dead
ts’éye—kill a person or animal
Š Conjugating the first of these in the First Person
would indicate “I die.” Conjugating the other in the
First Person would indicate “I cause (someone) to die,”
in other words, “I kill someone.”
Causative Conjugation
Š Causatives are marked <C>, but are really <A>
conjugations. They are only marked differently
because conjugation occurs at the causative, not at
the other verb.
dábuze ye—dry something <C>
dábuze áye
dábuze ánye
dábuze anyábe
dábuze yáye
dábuze yayábe
dábuze ye
dábuze yábe
Š They are conjugated as such even when they appear
as verbal suffixes rather than full-blown particles.
Multiple Verbs
Š Some sentences will contain more than one total verb
package. When this happens, the first one will be the
unconjugated Subordinate Verb and the other will be the
conjugated Main Verb.
Nin Shóje ophá ahúbe čhe au.
River
Muddy
follow
IDIOM: The Missouri River SUBORD.
they came
MAIN
narrative
male-specific speech
They came following the Missouri River.
NOTE: In this example, ophá is a form of the verb ophé. The ‘e’ changed to ‘a’ probably to
match the ‘a’ at the beginning of next word. This sort of thing just happens from time to
time, but there is really no need to worry about it; it should never cause big problems.
Adverbs
Š Just like in English, some Kanza sentences
will include adverbs modifying the verb.
When this happens, adverbs go before the
verb.
Ományinka mínčxi waspé olímbe čhe au.
Season
one
peacefully
they dwelt
narrative
male speech
They dwelt peacefully for one season.
Summary
Š In this lesson we have learned much, much more
information about the Kanza verb.
Š Some of this material would not be used commonly,
but would be necessary for making good sentences
beyond simple or rudimentary communication of
facts, desires, and observations.
Š A good way practice the material would be to think
of complex verbal situations in English, and try to
figure out how they would be expressed using the
Kanza verbal system.
Keep In Mind
The Kanza language is just as useful and
worthy of speech as any other.
It is the responsibility of anyone who CAN use
the language to actually USE the language.
This includes reading and writing as well as
listening and talking.
WALK THE TALK!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
TIME AND INTEREST
KANZA LANGUAGE PROJECT
KAW NATION
DRAWER 50
KAW CITY, OK 74641
(580) 269-2552
http://www.kawnation.com/langhome.html
[email protected]